Sunday, February 03, 2008

Navy SEALs...The mind rules the body....

From Los Angeles Times Magazine:

Sink or SwimThink you can perform like a Navy SEAL? Think again.By Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

If you tend to call your La-Z-Boy home, watch your back. The Navy SEALs are dropping anchor at UCLA on Feb. 9 and 10 to test your mettle with their fitness challenge. Your mission? Virtually the same physical screening test for SEAL hopefuls: a 500-yard swim, then push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a 10-mile run.

We got the skinny from Navy SEALs Ed Rohrbach and David Goggins.

How did the Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge come to be?

Rohrbach: We took the SEAL physical screening test and gave it to some high schoolers in San Diego, and they did really well. The first national event went down in Boston in June of 2007. Our goal is to promote physical fitness. You can actually see where you would rank against a Navy SEAL.

What is most satisfying about the fitness challenge?

Goggins: Everybody hits walls in life, but they don’t understand that every wall has a door. In these challenges people start to realize, “Yeah, I’m hitting a wall at mile one, but I have another half-mile to go.” And they find that door and go through it.

How often do civilians put in SEAL-worthy performances?

Rohrbach: About 30% to 50% pass the minimum standards to get into training.

How many competitors are expected in L.A.?

Rohrbach: Because L.A. is such a physically fit place, and people are motivated to do things that are outside the ordinary, we expect between 400 and 800 people to show up.

What exercises can an office worker do at her desk?

Rohrbach: Push on the armrests of your chair and try to lift your body with just your arm strength. Or move your bottom to the edge of the chair and do leg lifts.

Goggins: Set your watch on a timer and knock out 10 push-ups every 10 minutes.